They Never Knew
by BloodyAngel93
Summary: October 31, 1981 Harry Potter defeated the dark lord but he to also disappeared that night. James and lily never died but grieved the loss of a son. 15 years later Eric is a street musican with an odd lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead.
1. Chapter 1: Street Rats

Prologue

It had been fifteen years since Voldemort's fall. Fifteen years of mourning for little Harry Potter who at the age of one defeated the dark old at the price of his life. Fifteen years since James and Lily Potter had come out of hiding. Never having closer because their son's body was never found, only his empty crib and the burnt remains of his favorite blanket that he always carried around were left. They had never known that, that night and for many nights after that a little boy with a lighting bolt shaped scar on his forehead cried non stop never sleeping or eating, much to the despair of the woman who had taken him in. For fifteen years they never knew.

Chapter one: Street Rats

"Eric, get up you've got to go to work!" A woman's voice floated up through the floor and into the ears of a sleeping sixteen year old. Who just rolled over and threw the ratty covers over his head.

"Oh come on Mum, don't make him go to work so early its not like there's a clocking in time for picking pockets." A boys voice replied loudly. The sleeping boy opened his eyes which were dull with sleep but his features sharp with annoyance.

"Your brother does not steal...he gets paid for his music because he plays so well and people enjoy his performances!" The woman yelled back anger laced her voice. Laughing could be heard throughout the rundown two story house.

"Of course they do...Oy Eric get your ass up before mum has fricking kittens!" The boy yelled through the door that shut off Eric's room from the rest of the house. Eric had already gotten up and dressed walking stealthily over to his door he opened it quickly.

"Oy Devon, I'm already up!" He screamed in his ear and than quickly dodged the hand that had been aimed for his head. Running down the stairs and into the kitchen that was also their living room. Angel the woman he considered to be his mother though biologically she wasn't stood near the no longer working stove with a piece of toast in her hand waiting for him with a warm smile. Lines of age and stress of street life had made themselves apparent on her face. Her clothes were nothing but rags but so were Eric's and Devon's. Grabbing the piece of toast he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek before grabbing his guitar case and walking out the door with a final; goodbye to both her and his brother.

As he walked through the back alleyways of the worst part of London he couldn't help but watch the world as is changed. The change was abrupt and it made him wonder as he had before what really kept his world from being their world.. In his neighborhood houses were rundown and looked about ready to collapse at the slightest wind gust. If you were smart you carried a switchblade or a gun and you knew how to fight with your fists and feet, you knew how to steal, lie, and cheat...but most importantly you knew how to survive. But as he walked the eerie stillness of his neighborhood turned into the chaos of the main city. Where fighting was frowned upon, where murder was not an act that that was shrugged off by everyone that wasn't involved , where the houses for the lower income people were still fancy, and carrying weapons was left for those who were trained to use them, where starving was never even a thought.

Sighing he walked down the sidewalk to his usual corner between a clothing store and a video rental shop. Stopping he bent down and opened his guitar case where his most prized possession sat. A shiny brand new looking guitar that he had saved up every penny he found to pay for it. Getting it out he sat down and tuned it to how he wanted it. Leaving his case open for tips. Than he started strumming and soon after that singing.

_"I was coming to the end of a long long walk_

_when a man crawled out of a cardboard box_

_under the E. Street Bridge followed me onto it_

_I went out half way a cross with that homeless_

_shadow tagging along So I dug for some change_

_wouldn't need it anyway _

_He took it lookin just a bit ashamed_

_he said, You know, I haven't always been this way._

_I've had my moments, days in the sun _

_Moments I was second to none_

_Moments when I knew what I thought I couldn't do_

_Like that plane ride coming home from the war_

_That summer my son was born._

_And memories like a coat so warm_

_A cold wind can't break through_

_Lookin at me now you might not know it_

_But I've had my moments._

_I stood there tryin to find my nerve_

_wondering if a single soul on earth_

_would care at all Miss me when I'm gone._

_That old man just kept hanging around_

_Lookin at me, lookin down_

_I think he recognized that look in my eyes._

_Standing there with him I felt ashamed_

_I said, You know, I haven't always felt this way._

_I've had my moments, days in the sun_

_Moments I was second to none_

_Moments when I knew I did what I thought_

_I couldn't do_

_Like the day I walked away from the wine_

_For a woman who became my wife _

_And a love that, when it was right, Could_

_Always see me through._

_Lookin at me now you might not know it _

_but I've had my moments._

_I know somewhere round a trashcan _

_fire tonight that old man tells his story_

_one more time. He says_

_I've had my moments, days in the sun_

_Moments I was second to none_

_Moments when I did what I thought I couldn't do_

_Like that cool night on the E. Street Bridge_

_when a young man almost ended it_

_I was right there, wasn't scared a bit_

_And I helped to pull him through_

_Lookin at me now you might not know it..._

_Oh, lookin at me now you might not know_

_it but I've had my moments._

As the song came to an end he looked around at the streets and saw a small red headed girl watching him in seeming awe. Smiling slightly and trying not to blush at her unwavering gaze he waved slightly. She grinned back at him and waved hard like any excited child would. Eric noticed an older version of the little girl walk up behind her and whisper something in her ear, the likeness between the two was chilling but he noticed that the one difference between the two were their eyes, the older woman had green eyes and the girl had hazel. Suddenly the girl began to speak loud enough that he could hear what she was saying.

"Mommy doesn't that boy over there look like daddy and did you hear him play and sing he was really good like a professional." The little girl pointed at him but her mother only spared a fleeting glance at him.

"I guess Hun but come along now you never know how those homeless people will act their nothing but street rats." Eric saw that the woman only said what she said in an attempt to hurry her daughter along and yet in her tone he heard truth and that she at least somewhat believed in what she had said. The little girl sighed sadly before running quickly out of her mothers grasp and over to him. Unhooking the clasp of her necklace she placed it in his guitar case with a small knowing smile a twinkle in her eye. She then danced back to her very angry mother whom she just smiled at and continued to dance away in the direction they had been heading in.

Eric shook himself for a moment pushing the whole thing from his mind. He glanced down into his case and barely recognized the 10 dollars (sorry I don't know how much money that would be in London...I'm American...obviously.) all he saw was the silver locket reflecting the morning sun merrily back at him. Sighing he looked back down at his guitar and thought for a moment about what song to sing, it only took a moment to figure it out and once he had he began playing.

"_after every day after Thanksgiving sale_

_ The mall's just ain't complete Without a _

_bunch of decorations And a paper Angel tree_

_ There's artificial smiles On artificial tree limbs_

_ Saying what she'd love to have And what to buy _

_for him Well I hope Maggie likes her new winter _

_clothes And her buggy with a baby doll Maybe _

_Thomas'll smile with his new Nike shoes When he shoots that basketball _

_I can't help but wishin That I could do more_

_But not just when shoppin In the department store Paper _

_Angels, you're in my thoughts and prayers No matter _

_where you are Remember God's right there He's askin all of us, _

_to help take care Of His paper Angels everywhere Goin' through _

_the mail on a scary afternoon I see a mom and dad's worst dream _

_They're on the back of a money-saving ad To get my carpet _

_cleaned Height, weight, hair, eyes Date missin' and DOB The child's name, _

_a picture And the words "Have you seen me?" Paper Angels, _

_you're in my thoughts and prayers No matter where you are Remember _

_God's right there He's askin all of us, to help take care Of His paper _

_Angels everywhere His documented bruises Fill a folder in a file _

_She's a second grade self portrait Drawn without a smile And every _

_town is littered With this kind of debris We've got to stop this madness _

_It's up to you and me Paper Angels, you're in my thoughts and prayers _

_No matter where you are Remember God's right there He's askin all of us, _

_to help take care Of His paper Angels everywhere Paper Angels everywhere"_

The day wore on and as the afternoon rolled around he packed up his stuff and headed home. Back to the dingy streets where fear was a common stench and hatred for all was a common emotion. Eric knew he didn't really fit with the people back in his neighborhood they were to mean to hard and cold. Not that he couldn't be that but while most stole, killed, and cheated for not only food another necessities but also for fun, bets, and arguments he worked as hard as he could singing and playing and than if he didn't make enough money he stole to make the ends meet, he killed only when he was about to be killed, and cheated to stop from being cheated. He had to steal often more often than he liked to admit even to himself, same with cheating but killing he'd only done once and he'd made the vow to never do it again no matter the circumstances.

He couldn't remember his parents or if they were even alive but he did remember a cold laughter and a blinding green light with a high pitched scream. He'd never told anyone what he remembered and he didn't plan to though it haunted his sleep he would keep those memories with him until the day he died. As so it seemed would the secret of how he got the scar like a lighting bolt on his forehead...no one was sure of that one.

Once he reached his house he counted out his money with his brother and his mom watching on hoping to have enough money to get them through a few days. There was twenty dollars there which wasn't that bad for a half a day and it would get them though a couple of days, barely but it would nonetheless. His family never saw the locket for he had put it in his pocket before he had gotten home. After counting the money and giving it to Angel he went up to his room and laid down.

Thoughts swirled around his head and they seemed to all lead back to one little red headed girl and her damn locket. She had looked at him as if she knew who he was but she couldn't have he'd never seen her before. Sighing he pulled out the locket. It was very beautiful with intricate designs that flowed around it as if it were coated in a web its circular frame gave off the impression of being simple when looked at first glance. Looking more closely he saw that around the edges were words _Always remember who you are_. The words seemed ominous and made the hair on the back of his neck stand up but as he whispered those words over and over again and held the locket tightly in his hand he found that he could almost see the little girl smiling at him. Eyes sparkling with an innocence he never had and would never envy her of having. Thinking for a moment he tried to open the lock but found that it would not budge staring at it slightly annoyed but more disappointed he laid there continuing to whisper those words that were engraved in writing he felt himself relax and fall into a sleep where for once he was not haunted by a past he didn't even fully remember.

A/N As you all can see this doesn't really fit HP storyline also this story has been used a lot but this has been bugging me for a long, long, long, long time. So please give it a chance...please...oh that and could you review. I don't care if its flames or criticism, or compliments I'll take what ever I can get.


	2. Chapter 2:Recollection

Chapter Two: Recollection

Life on the streets was a life Eric would wish on no one and yet he found there were some people he knew deserved worse than what the streets could offer them in punishment for the actions it did not like. Gangs were not an uncommon finding and most kept to themselves with wars and fights going on against rival gangs but that was it, but there were a few...one in particular that were notorious not only in the street life community but also in the main London prison system. They were known for their drive by's, their thievery, and the habit that disgusted Eric the most their record for raping any girl they could get their hands on.

_**Flashback**_

_Eric walked through the streets singing softly to himself a song that had no meaning or purpose...in fact the words were put there so he could remember the melody._

_He had just turned ten the day before he knew for a fact that October 1st 1980 wasn't his birthday but he didn't know when it was so that was the date Angel had given him as a birthday and that was the one he kept._

_At first he didn't understand what he was hearing because screaming was not something that was odd same as gun shots, and getting beat up was not something that surprised people when events like that occurred. So when the screams of a girl started up he thought nothing of it...in fact he tried to tune it out her hysterical voice was to much like the one he heard every night when he slept. But her voice wouldn't leave his mind and he soon realized she wasn't screaming in anger or sadness but in desperation. She was pleading...for what sounded like her life. Knowing that he should just go home and forget about it he moved stealthily toward the alleyway from which the screaming was issuing from. Glancing in he saw the Cripplers...they were the very essence of the better people's nightmares of who street people were like. they had a girl who looked to be about fifteen up against the wall ignoring her pleas with laughter as they felt her up. _

_His eyes had never been good and he knew he needed glasses but affording them was out of the question...seeing as he and his family could barely afford food. But for some reason as if some force had repaired his eyes for the moment he could see them in perfect detail as the leader began to strip off her shirt. Her pleas still rung throughout Eric's ears and then he saw red._

_"Hey! Leave her alone." Eric yelled as he stepped into the first shadows of the alleyway. The Cripplers turned toward him while the leader kept a firm hold on the struggling girl. _

_"Get out of here boy I'd hate to have to kill ya!" The leader yelled and something in his tone and the hard glint in his eyes let Eric know he wouldn't mind killing him. Fear coursed through his veins but as he looked at the girls fear stricken face and looked into her eyes he couldn't leave...he wouldn't._

"_Let her go and I will leave and I'll never bother you again." Laughter was the only thing he got in reply. _

_Sighing he got out the weapon he'd never used in his life and didn't know if he could use it. The hand gun felt big in his hands...awkward. The gangs attention soon became the gun that was pointed at them. Only the leader didn't show fear...Eric wasn't sure if he was human enough to feel an emotion so human._

"_Boy put that thing up before you take someone's eye out. We both know you ain't gonna use it." Eric ignored him and pointed the gun at the leader's chest...if there was anything he was good at it was his impeccable aim. He always hit what he aimed for. _

"_Let her go." He moved his finger slowly and deliberately to the trigger where it rested firmly. _

"_Um maybe we should listen to him and leave because he seems like he means business." One of the guys in the gang told the leader his voice shook slightly._

"_He's a child and plus he's just bluffing. Come on kid hand me the gun...you don't want to do anything you'll regret." Eric looked the leader in the eye as he made his way over to him._

"_Exactly." with that he pulled the trigger and watched as the leader fell to the ground dead...a single bullet wound to his chest had stopped his heart. The world had lost noise everything had disappeared beside the men and the girl in front of him...a whooshing sound roared in his ears. The gang members looked at him stricken before some started to advance on him and some looked like they were trying to make an escape...they soon realized the only escape out of the alleyway was the one Eric was blocking. He didn't ask questions as he fired more bullets until each gang member had fallen to the ground...dead...with only one bullet in each of them. There had only been eight bullets now their was only one._

"_Looking over to the girl he saw she was staring at him in fear and gratitude. Pulling off his three times to big shirt he held it out to her. She looked at it confused for a moment before glancing down at herself...her upper half was bare besides her lace bra. Blushing and looking at him slightly fearful she walked over to him and grabbed the shirt all the while never taking her eyes off the gun. Eric noticed and slowly put the safety on and than placed it in his back pocket. _

"_Get out of this alleyway turn right run straight until you see the sign that says 'one way road to hell and back.' than turn right keep running straight until you reach the city." Eric's voice was hoarse but firm as he searched her eyes to make sure she understood. She nodded and ran. Eric looked back at the bodies and suddenly the world was loud again...so loud. Tears welled up in his eyes as he realized what he had done and as he glanced at his hands he saw they were coated thickly in red liquid...blood. Crying he ran back to his home stumbling...tripping but he never fell. _

_Once he reached his house he collapsed in the kitchen wiping his hands furiously. Angel and Devon came running and crouched down beside him._

"_Eric, what is it?" as they watched him scrub and wipe at his hands with more venom. _

"_I got to get it off, I got to get it off, I got to get it off..." That's all he said. Angel and Devon looked at each other and than at Eric's hands...they were clean not a speak of dirt on them._

"_What do you have get off your hands Eric?" Devon asked his voice shaking. Eric looked up at him with tear filled eyes._

"_The blood...its everywhere."_

_**End of Flashback**_

Days passed before he would speak of what had happened and than Angel and Devon told him he was a hero...but he knew the truth...no hero killed...they saved. Eric still often wondered about the girl he'd 'saved' and if she was ok. He never told anyone what he found when he looked into her eyes...he had witnessed her innocence leave, her childhood disappear. Saw her become a ghost of the girl she had been and a phantom of the woman she would have become...he saw that she would from then on out have to battle her past forever until the day she died. And Eric hated that he had something to do with that.

Sighing he pulled out his guitar and looked back down at the lyrics he'd been working on since the months that had followed. He'd just finished them in the silence of his house, Devon and Angel were out working. Tuning his guitar he began strumming and than as always he began to sing.

_**Somewhere there's a stolen haloI use to watch **_

_**her wear it well Everything would shine wherever **_

_**she would goBut looking at her now you'd never tell**_

_**Someone ran away with her innocence A memory **_

_**she can't get out of her head I can only imagine **_

_**what she's feeling When she's prayingKneeling at **_

_**the edge of her bed**_

_**And she says take me awayAnd take me farther **_

_**Surround me nowAnd hold, hold, hold me like holy **_

_**water Holy water**_

_**She wants someone to call her angel Someone **_

_**to put the light back in her eyes She's looking through **_

_**the facesThe unfamiliar places She needs someone to hear her when she cries**_

_**And she says take me awayAnd take me farther Surround **_

_**me now And hold, hold, hold me like holy waterHoly water**_

_**She just needs a little help To wash away the pain she's felt **_

_**She wants to feel the healing handsOf someone who understands**_

_**And she says take me awayAnd take me farther Surround me now **_

_**And hold, hold, hold meAnd she says take me awayAnd take me **_

_**farther Surround me now And hold, hold, hold me like holy water Holy water**_

As he finished singing he wiped his eyes slightly and sighed. He felt proud of that song he'd never sung it before he felt as if he should sing it when he was absolutely sure it was perfect...he just wished it hadn't brought up such painful memories seeing as they already visited him regularly. Shaking his head he began strumming again.

_**I've been looking at people And how they change with the times **_

_**And lately all I've been seeing are peopleThrowing love away and losing **_

_**their minds Or maybe it's me that's gone crazy'Cause I can't understand **_

_**why All these people keep hurting each otherWhen good love is so hard **_

_**to come by So what's the glory in living Doesn't anybody ever stay together **_

_**anymore And if love never lasts forever Tell me what's forever forI've been **_

_**listening to people And they say love is the key And it's not my way to let **_

_**them lead me astray It's only that I want to believeBut I see love-hungry **_

_**people Trying their best to survive While in their hands is a dying romance **_

_**And they're not even trying to keep it alive So what's the glory in living **_

_**Doesn't anybody ever stay together anymore And if love never **_

_**lasts forever Tell me what's forever for**_

Eric sighed and laid his guitar aside as the song came to an end. Standing up he walked over to his rickety table that looked more like a stool. With only one item on it he stared at that one item and repeated the words that brought him comfort. _Always remember who you are.' _Not for the first time in the week that had passed since his run in with the girl did he wonder who she was. who she was beneath the smiles and who she was beneath that knowing look in her eyes. He now knew that she did know who he was but he also understood he didn't know who she was. He wanted to know her name...know how she knew him when he was at least eight years older than she was.

"Oy, Eric I'm back." Shaking himself out of his thoughts Eric ran down the stairs and helped his brother count out the money that he'd brought in... forty dollars. Grinning like little kids at each other they started play wrestling. Tomorrow Eric would go out and sing and bring in more money because by tomorrow almost all the money that Devon had brought in would be spent. Used as payback money...they were in debt and they had to give their money back to those that they had borrowed from. That was the one thing you never wanted to be a person who was in the debt of someone else. Because all debts must be paid either with money or life. But at that moment they did not worry about that, Eric didn't not think about the little red headed girl, Devon did not wonder about the weird happenings that always happened around his brother. At that moment all they did was laugh and roll around the kitchen being the kids they had never had the chance of being.

A/N Here's chapter two. the songs are Holy Water by Big and Rich and What's Forever For by Billy Gilman. Please review and tell me what you thought about it.


	3. Chapter 3: A Family Reunion

Chapter Three: A Family Reunion?

The sun shined sown on Eric's usual street corner as he strummed at his guitar he noticed more people watching than usual. Smiling slightly he hoped they would be kind enough to lend some money. It had been a week since he'd finished the song Holy Water and in that time life had gone on in its mundane way. Slow as ever and living one minute to the next and dieing a little when cash got scarce. Coming to the end of his song he let the last note ring in the air before he stopped the vibrating string. Hearing light applause Eric let himself grin again before he started playing another song.

**Ol' Johnny's got a heart of gold,**

**ask anyone around here. But some**

**nights his eyes are far away and filled**

**with tears. Sweet Mary Lou's just as**

**good as they come with a weakness for**

**all the wrong men. From the look on her **

**face tonight she's been wrong again.**

**Bartender's thinkin' to himself as**

**he rubs his towel around a glass.**

**Now there's a man with a memory**

**Here's a woman with a past. Lost souls **

**on life's highway forever looking back.**

**When you're living for the love and the love**

**don't last you get a man with a memory,**

**a woman with a past.**

**Bartender turns the TV down and cranks**

**that old juke box up. Carefully selects**

**which ones to push for what each song does.**

**C-23 after J-19, its a tonic for a broken heart.**

**A little 'Stardust' in the mix, its a fine, fine**

**art. Dim the lights a notch or two the next **

**rounds on the house.**

**Now there's a man with a memory**

**Here's a woman with a past. Lost souls**

**on life's highway forever looking back.**

**When you're living for the love and love**

**doesn't last you get a man with a memory**

**a woman with a past.**

**Oh, we've all got something to get around**

**now and then you get the chance to help the**

**lost get found. Stacking chairs and sweeping up**

**he can't help a little smile."**

Coming to an end he heard scattered applause and a couple of whistles and to his great shock at least fifty dollars in his guitar case. For having only played half a dozen songs so far he considered himself more than lucky. Looking around the crowd he noticed the small red headed girl who had haunted his dreams for the last few nights standing ten feet in front of him with a smile on her face. Trying to hide his surprise Eric smiled and nodded her way taking in the man with hazel eyes and unruly black hair, Eric guessed him to be her father.

It was the one thing he'd always wanted to have a mother and father of course Angel was a sweetheart and was his mother in every essence save blood but there was always some connection missing. As for a father he'd never even had a hint of one seeing as his parents had just dumped him on the streets one day he figured his father wasn't a man he'd want to meet anytime soon.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts he quickly made adjustments on his guitar before he started playing once more. He figured he could play one more before he had to head home. It was already 3:00 if the clock in the store window across the street from where he was at was anything to go by. There was a standard rule in his neighborhood if you wanted trouble you walked the streets during the evening and night. Pushing those thoughts away Eric let himself fall into the place where he escaped, where only his music and him existed.

"**Last day of the rest of my life **

**I wish I would've known Cause **

**I didn't kiss my mama goodbye **

**I didn't tell her that I loved her **

**and how much I care Or thank my **

**pops for all the talks And all the **

**wisdom he shared Unaware, I just did **

**what I always do Everyday, the same **

**routine Before I skate off to school But **

**who knew that this day wasn't like the rest **

**Instead of taking a test I took two to the chest **

**Call me blind, but I didn't see it coming Everybody **

**was running But I couldn't hear nothing Except **

**gun blasts, it happened so fast I don't really **

**know this kid Even though I sit by him in class **

**Maybe this kid was reaching out for love**

**Or maybe for a moment He forgot who he was **

**Or maybe this kid just wanted to be hugged **

**Whatever it was I know it's because **

**We are, We are, the youth of the nation **

**Little Suzy, she was only twelve She **

**was given the world With every chance to excel **

**Hang with the boys and hear the stories they tell **

**She might act kind of proud But no respect for **

**herself She finds love in all the wrong places **

**The same situations Just different faces Changed **

**up her pace since her daddy left her Too bad he **

**never told her She deserved much better Johnny **

**boy always played the fool He broke all the rules **

**So you would think he was cool He was never **

**really one of the guys No matter how hard he **

**tried Often thought of suicide It's kind of hard **

**when you ain't got no friends He put his life to an **

**end They might remember him then You cross the **

**line and there's no turning back Told the world how **

**he felt With the sound of a gat We are, We are, the youth of the nation **

**Who's to blame for the lives that tragedies claim **

**No matter what you say It don't take away the pain **

**That I feel inside, I'm tired of all the lies Don't nobody **

**know why It's the blind leading the blind I guess that's **

**the way the story goes Will it ever make sense Somebody's **

**got to know There's got to be more to life than this There's got to be **

**more to everything I thought exists **

**We are, We are, the youth of the nation"**

As the last note died in the air and a few more bills found there way into his guitar case Eric looked around and smiled at the people who were left and as they began to walk away and back tot heir daily lives Eric began putting up his guitar. Once that was done he grabbed the handle and stood up with a sigh turning towards the darker side of London he came face to face with The man with hazel eyes and unruly hair along with the red haired girl. Raising an eyebrow Eric felt himself tense immediately as if to defend himself against an attack.

"Can I help you Sir?" Eric asked politely. It was the one quality Angel had tried her best to instill in him while Devon had instilled in him the art of lying though Angel was more affective in the end.

"Yes, I was wondering how you came to own that locket?" The man's voice though masked with politeness held a warning to Eric and what his answer was. Eric's hand flew up to the locket that the little girl had given him, he'd decided to wear it today because he felt compelled to.

"Well, I have to ask why do you care about my locket?" Eric shifted his feet and glanced down at the girl who's eyes held nothing but mischief not the harmful kind but the playful kind then again when used with the wrong people they quickly became the same thing. He noticed the man's eyes darken slightly and his fists clench.

"I care because its my daughter's locket and she wants it back." His voice was indignant as if he was angry that a street kid had decided to question him. Eric felt his anger rise from non existent to raising its sleepy head.

"Well, Sir your daughter is the one who gave me this locket and if she wants it back I'll be happy to give it back to her but only if its her that wants it back. Seeing as you have no right to this locket and you gave ownership to your daughter than it would be your daughter's choice to whom she gives it to." Eric told the man whom had an air that clearly stated he thought he was better then the person he was being forced to speak to.

"I have every right to that locket seeing as it was my mothers and her mother's before that. It has been passed down from generation to generation and I will not have some thief who is so useless that he has to sing for money mess up that tradition." The man was no longer speaking but yelling loudly. His yells were attracting stares and Eric was worried that he'd have to change locations to sing again if the man continued to yell.

"Sir, could you please keep your voice down there's no reason yell we're both adults here. Also I'm not a thief your daughter gave me this locket two weeks ago and if she wishes to have it back I will give it to her. I'm sorry that it messes up you tradition that I have it but seeing as you have already passed it on to your child it would be reasonable to believe that its her choice as to what she does with it." Eric knew Angel would be proud if she could see him now keeping his cool and being able to stay polite.

"I will not keep my voice down you piece of trash! she's six years old for Merlin's sake she doesn't understand what consequences her actions can cause. And I'm the only adult around here how old are you 14, 15? You're a child!" The man was now keeping no sense of calm and his yells had turned to enraged screams that alerted more people. Sighing Eric decided to something he rarely ever did because he was worried about where it came from and what it meant. Also about the feeling it gave him, it made him feel powerful and that was not a feeling he liked. Power only led to pain, hurt, death, and destruction. No sunshine came from power only darkness...only evil.

Staring the man straight in the eye Eric focused on a light within him that he'd been able to see since before he could really recall. Once he found it he let it wrap itself around himself. Once it had he focused the light into a thin stream and guided it to the man's face. Letting it cover his lips and wrapping it around his ears Eric let it stand like that for a minute before letting go of the light and allowing it to sink back down into him where it rested content. There had been no visual trace of what he had done but as the man tried to speak and realized that he couldn't that his voice box had been put out of commission his eyes widened. His hearing had also been enhanced.

"Now that I've got your full and complete attention I would like to say that I'm sixteen years old and that I've probably seen more in my life time than you have in yours. Now in the case of the locket I believe there is one person to whom I haven't yet heard their opinion yet." Kneeling down and smiling genuinely at the small red head Eric allowed himself only a few moments to marvel at how innocent she looked and yet how devious her eyes revealed her to be. "Nice to finally be able to talk to you. My name's Eric what's yours?"

"Cambri. You just did magic without a wand." Her voice was confused as she stared at Eric. Eric felt the smile slide off his face.

"Magic? There's no such thing." Eric knew that he was lying now he knew there was such a thing as magic but he feared it in a way that he didn't think anyone would eve understand.

"Yes, there is. You know there is I can see it in your eyes." Eric nodded only slightly to show he accepted that they both believed in magic. Sighing slightly Eric grabbed the locket from around his neck and showed it to Cambri.

"Why did you give this to me? Do you want it back?" Eric looked her in the eye and felt something stir inside him. A long dormant feeling as if this girl was some long lost family.

"I gave it to you so they would find you...so I could get to know you. I only want it back if you will come with us and learn about who you are and who you are to me but if you won't i want you to keep it that way you can remember me." Her voice was sad though a hopeful tint colored her voice.

Eric felt his unease rise as he truly began to wonder who this girl and her father were.

"How about you tell me right now who I am and what I am to you and I will decide then." His voice was guarded and he saw the girls eyes dim a little. Eric wanted to hit himself no person should cause her to be sad.

"I was afraid this would happen but if you want to know I'll tell you. Your name is Harry James Potter you're a dark wizard defeater and you're my older brother. Of course we've never met because the last time you were with mom and dad you were just a year old and I'm only six so you can do the math." Her voice was heart wrenching and Eric felt sympathy well up inside of him and an emotion to reach out and hug her to protect her from whatever pain may come her way.

"Cambri, I'm sorry but I think you've got me confused with someone else. I'm no more a dark wizard defeater then I am rich. But who ever is you brother I consider him a very lucky person." Eric fought his own tears as he saw Cambri begin to cry.

" You can't run away from who you are Harry. He's back and he wants to make sure your dead and if i found you he will to. And he will destroy everything and everyone you hold dear because that is what he does. You cannot run from what you are supposed to become Eric. Whether by your will or not the storm is coming and its almost at your front door." Her words though cold held a chilling truth that Eric recognized without understanding how he did.

Without a second thought he stood up and ran away from the two people who had turned his life upside down. He couldn't be this Harry Potter he wouldn't be. She made it sound as if he was to a conquer or defeater again and that called for two things...power and death. Those were two things he'd sworn to hate and stay from because to have control over other people was not a job he wanted in his hands. To many lives were at risk and besides he was no more a hero then an innocent child.

Eric swore he heard the man yell 'Harry' but he couldn't be sure he was already turning on to a different street. He hoped that no trouble would come to him as he raced home the sun was already lowering in the sky and dusk and the demons that came with it were fast approaching.

A/N please tell me what you think...I love reviews and it gives me incentive to keep writing. The songs are 'Man with a Memory' by Joe Nichols and Youth of the Nation by P.O.D


	4. Chapter 4:The Storm

Chapter Four: The storm

Eric had become quiet the last few days after his run in with Cambri and though he didn't believe her he couldn't fight the part of his mind that told him that something in her words held truth. He wished he knew what they were and until he did he feared he would obsess over it. Angel and Devon were begging him to tell them what was wrong but he couldn't. How could he tell them that some girl had come up with her father and told him that they were his long lost family and that he was a dark wizard defeater and that same dark wizard was somehow looking for him again. It sounded like madness and that's what it was really madness and yet he thought of all he could do and he knew magic existed and then he thought of the scar on his forehead that even prickled with such intensity that he had to blink back tears.

He didn't know what it was and when he was young he had loved it, it had made him unique but now not so many years passed that childhood he was starting to hate and fear the scar. He was beginning to believe it wasn't so much a scar but a mark that marked him for what he didn't know. Shaking his head he let out a frustrated sigh...it was all madness and yet he knew that there was some truth to it.

Deciding to got to work he got up from his laying position on the floor and picked up his guitar case which was heavy with the weight of the guitar. Eric still had the locket around his neck he couldn't stand the thought of taking it off...he felt a connection with it or perhaps i was that he felt a connection with its previous owner. Yelling to Devon that he was going to work he ran out of the house and out into the midmorning warmth.

He had switched areas again not out of necessity but out of personal need something about that corner no longer allowed him to feel the same way. As if it was a part of a chapter that had already ended without him knowing...he didn't like the feeling it left him thinking that somehow it was out of his control and that the fact he didn't even know what that was bothered him even more.

The place that he was at now was a street away from his old corner and his new corner was in front of a business and beside an antique shop. It got a good flow of people who gave good tips and for that he was satisfied. Sitting down he pulled out his guitar and got the case set up. He thought a moment on what he should sing before he started.

_**"On a Friday night where I grew**_

_**up. There ain't a whole lot you could do**_

_**The same ole' faces the same ole' places**_

_**ain't nothin' ever new. After a football**_

_**game we'd hang around the high **_

_**school parking lot. Then we'd pile into**_

_**a couple of cars and Head off to our **_

_**favorite spot.**_

_**Down to the river, We went to the river**_

_**My sophomore year was a carbon**_

_**copy the ones that came before**_

_**til' late in November that shook**_

_**us all down to the core.**_

_**We'd won the game by twenty**_

_**points couldn't wait to celebrate**_

_**But our lead car was goin way to**_

_**fast. they never even hit the breaks**_

_**They went into the river deep into**_

_**the river**_

_**We buried Laurie Mabery in the**_

_**clothes that she's been wearin'**_

_**Her cheerleader uniform never**_

_**looked so out of place.**_

_**That sweater and that pleated**_

_**skirt of blue, white, and crimson**_

_**just didn't belong in that shiny silver**_

_**case.**_

_**I moved here to Nashville on May**_

_**12th of '89 And I started gettin'**_

_**letters once a week from this friend **_

_**of mine.**_

_**I'd gone to school with Christine**_

_**Thuro from kindergarten on **_

_**She'd say hang in there 'cause**_

_**I just know you're gonna be a star**_

_**She and her boyfriend and a couple of kids**_

_**I guess she met through him Set**_

_**out for the Marais Des Cygne**_

_**to try to cool off by takin a swim.**_

_**There'd been a lot of rain that**_

_**summer and the current was to strong**_

_**I heard they did all they could but Christine **_

_**she was gone.**_

_**Into the River she died right there in **_

_**the river.**_

_**I was baptized in that same water**_

_**gave my soul Jesus How can such**_

_**a peaceful place be filled with**_

_**so much pain.**_

_**Cause to young mothers lost**_

_**their daughters right there**_

_**for no reason. I swear I'll never**_

_**go back down there again.**_

_**Back to the river**_

_**That mean ole' river**_

_**that Beautiful river**_

_**that damn ole' river**_

_**that damn ole' river.**_

As the last note disappeared into the air Eric felt the last of his anxiety roll off him in one final wave. The song was sad as were most of his songs were but he wasn't trying to be depressing he was just trying to express the things he saw, that happen to him and the things he himself had done. But as he looked into his case and saw six dollars already he smiled slightly and figured that his songs must touch some people. Pondering once more on which song before he began strumming the chords expertly.

"_**Just two years and seven days**_

_**between me and legal age. Just **_

_**one clerk in that liquor store**_

_**Between me and that front door.**_

_**My coat had deep pockets and**_

_**he probably had a gun. Well, I **_

_**reckon I he was watchin' cause**_

_**he said 'Son that'll get you one.'**_

_**One year pickin up trash on the**_

_**highway, one phone call to hear **_

_**your momma's heartbreak If you**_

_**think its worth it don't let me stop**_

_**you son. Cause that'll get you one.**_

_**She had a beer in her hand, she was**_

_**comin on strong and I was just this **_

_**close to takin her home. things were**_

_**lookin Good, when we left that bar**_

'_**till she stopped and said 'that's**_

_**my car' That's when i saw the **_

_**sticker that said Franklin **_

_**County hight. Well, I didn't**_

_**even kiss the girl goodbye.**_

_**Cause that'll get you five.**_

_**Five years bustin up rocks on a **_

_**chain gang and paintin state plates**_

_**in sing sing. Wonderin if I'm ever gonna**_

_**make it out alive And those tan legs might **_

_**get me thinkin bout a jail break. Askin**_

_**my momma to slip a file in a bundt cake.**_

_**Those bloodhounds would probably**_

_**haul me back in and that's another ten.**_

_**Boss man climbin down my back**_

_**won't cut me one inch of slack.**_

'_**Tween that steel beam and the ground **_

_**below it'd be a nasty fall if the wind should **_

_**blow. I don't see a witness and we're **_

_**up here awful high if he should lose his balance**_

_**he might not survive. But that'll get you life.**_

_**Pumpin that iron with the boys on the **_

_**cell block. Tyin my soap on to a rope**_

_**so it don't drop cause some ole' boy**_

_**think my biceps looked nice. Writin **_

_**to the governor and beggin for a pardon**_

_**thinkin that's how merel Haggard got **_

_**started. Swappin cigarettes for mamma's apple**_

_**pie. Lookin through the glass and talkin**_

_**to my lawyer. Memorizin Moby dick and **_

_**Tom sawyer tellin the parole board I've**_

_**learned wrong from right.**_

_**That'll get you life.**_

It was one of the few songs that his playful side showed through and Eric liked it perhaps that was because he'd written it with his brother's help or because he was allowd to escape into mirth and funny wit instead of lyrics that got even the singer thinking.

The morning passed on and before he knew it he was packing up and heading home. A feeling of unease tingled on the back of his neck as he got closer to home and as he crossed the threshold and saw Devon and Angel sitting at the kitchen table in silence the unease grew.

A clap of thunder roared down at him and as he turned to face the outdoors a shiver ran up his spine. The sky had darkened angrily, forebodingly, giving a warning that Eric didn't quite understand until the pain in his scar flared to such an intensity that he dropped to his knees and clutched his forehead. Then Eric knew that a storm unlike any that mother nature could release was coming and it was hunting him and it would find him just like Cambri had said.

A/N Here's chapter four. Next chapter will be about the Potter's and how they've been faring these last fifteen years. So review please and tell me what you thought.

The songs are "The River" by chely wright and "That'll get you one" by jeff bates


	5. Chapter 5: Potter's Past

Chapter Five: Potter's Past

I grew up to fast some have said others say that I'm just very intelligent and perhaps its a bit of both. But whatever it is it has made me wise beyond my years. After the assumed death of my brother my parents waited many long years grieving and pushing one another way only to bring them in again. Then I came suddenly...I was not a planned child but that didn't matter not really. They treated me well gave me plenty of attention and food and I always ha a place to sleep but even in my mother's womb I heard stories. Storied that now I can only vaguely recall like wisps of smoke that dance on the edge of being grasped. These stories or what I thought stories were actual happenings...my parents problems.

At a very tender age of eighteen months I began to understand even if it wasn't as distinctive as it is now. I realized something was wrong. Perhaps it was because of me being their child I was more in tune with their feelings but this seemed different and then I knew why. I'm not sure when it occurred exactly but it was around the age of 3 or 4 that I understood I wasn't so much their daughter as I was their friend, their confidant, their therapist. Its been 4 years since I went to my parents with a problem...they always helped me solve them but I figured they had enough of their own so they shouldn't have to deal with mine. And just like that the people who solved the problems for their girl were the people who were getting problems solved by their little girl.

I don't blame them, me being only six I cannot even begin to imagine what the loss of a child feel like. Though I've seen other people who have lost kids and their still grieving, hurting, and stumbling along in life half if not completely blind. They who had raised or were raising kids were suddenly the children themselves and needed to be raised and cared for by others. These people who needed this care usually had people adults to help them and sometimes their other children were their to support them. But never had I met a family that leaned so heavily on a six year old. I barely know what to do with myself sometimes but for many years...many everlasting days that turned into interminable nights...I had to tell hem what they needed to do with themselves.

Of course their was Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus both of whom I love immensely. But Sirius has turned bitter and more daring since Harry's death. Perhaps because he was so close to Harry, his godson, or it was because his best friend, my father James, was nothing more then a ghost of what he had been before Harry disappeared. Remus had his own demons and had long stopped trying to fight his friend's, my parents. Though sometimes I see a deep sadness and hurt as he stares at my mom and dad.

But their days at work, problems with each other, emotions over a child lost, their were also stories that they included me in. About a man named Voldemort the wizard my brother destroyed. Voldemort destroyed and mangled more lives and families then any other evil wizard. He held no mercy for men, woman, or children...if they stood in his way he'd kill them. Mom and Dad showed me pictures of these killings and horrific brutality and to this day I still remember the age I was when they showed my first picture of a little blond haired boy with wide unseeing eyes staring forevermore at nothing. His clothes were neat not one wrinkle but no laughter adorned his face as it should have for a boy of six. He was dead I knew it before I even read the caption. I had been three years old I know this because it was birthday...a birthday that I ate my cake alone with no candles and one lone gift in the corner.

I never knew those years of peace that were filled with melancholy air. That was torn between rejoicing those still living and mourning those lost. I was born in the middle of war and a war that was being led by the same man who had killed my brother and for that i felt closer to him then most would ever realize. I wasn't bitter of the boy I'd never met who tore my parents apart because I knew if he had the choice he'd his life back not death. Who at such a young had, had the weight of the entire world muggle and wizard on his shoulders all because a prophecy said he would be a defeater.

I missed him more then anything I felt sometimes as if he wasn't dead as if he was alive just wandering lost unknowing of who he was. Though I always discarded those feelings as wishful thinking but their were days I couldn't help hope. The locket that I wore was a family heirloom that was meant for the first born which should have been Harry but my mum had persuaded my dad to let me have it. It had nearly killed his soul as he would never see that locket belonging to anyone but Harry and in a way I believe he thinks I stole it. I had met a woman one day about three weeks after I had been given it. She was a woman whom I had never met and will never meet again because she died the very next day. She said '**you will need this for many years to help get you through but one day you will meet a boy who is older then you and you will give it to him.' **I hadn't understood all of her words meaning but I remembered them feeling as if they were truly important and not the ramblings of a mad woman.

I was 3 or 4 when I met her and since then I've been waiting for that boy...though having no clue which was the one to whom the locket was supposed to go to. At least I didn't until I heard a voice of such sorrow and sadness singing about things just as depressing. I was in London with my mum when I heard it and ran to where the singing was coming from. Entranced by this voice that seemed to be calling out so loudly for someone to listen to him.

Then I saw him and I knew who he was his hair was long shoulder length that hung around his face but it didn't make him look like a girl...it made him look unique. Someone who stood out despite their best intentions not to. His clothes were that of a homeless person and his emerald eyes shone with a haunted light that no one should ever know. The color of his eyes were the exact same color as my mother's.

My heart beat erratically as a magnetic like pull began pushing at me from behind as if to tell me to go towards him. As his song ended I wondered if he had wrote that sad lament of days gone and hopeful reminiscences. As he looked up I caught his gaze and smiled stifling the gasp that wanted to escape my throat at what I saw into those emerald depths.

Within a matter of seconds I realized what that old lady had meant and to which boy I was to give this locket to. I was meant to give it to this emerald eyed boy whom I only knew by one name Harry James Potter.


	6. Chapter 6:Storm or No Storm

Chapter Six: Storm or No Storm

Life passes in strange lurches and though time quivers and seems to stop it always picks up again, sometimes to fast. Life passed as it always had for Eric though his family was getting more suspicious that he was hiding something and though he wanted nothing more then to spill his guts to them he found he couldn't. Why give Angel more heartache? Why give Devon more worries? They didn't need anymore of either. Money was good for the first time in his life there seemed to be a good supply rolling in and for that he was grateful.

His headaches though were getting worse. He'd always had them even when he was little. They were nothing new but they were beginning to hurt more and more. So much so that he'd had to stuff cloth in his own mouth to keep his screams muffled so as not to alert the other occupants of the house. Its what had woke him up and the pain as it always seemed to be was pulsating outward from the lighting bolt shaped scar on his forehead.

Sweat was only now beginning to dry as the cold drafty air blew against his body. His covers were in a tangled heap at the foot of his bed and he was to exhausted to get up and cover himself back up again. His muscles ached as if he'd used them for hours upon hours of hard physical labor. His eyes itched from the tears he been crying and had long ago wiped away. He stared up at the ceiling with to many emotions clouding eyes, with to many thoughts invading his mind. The quiet was slowly driving him mad but with every sound from outside or every creak the house made him cringed and want nothing but the silence.

It was odd though as he stared at the necklace that was laying on the window sill where he'd left it when he'd taken it off to go take a shower. The people at the gym in London weren't to fond of guys wearing jewelry and he needed no other reason to have attention drawn to himself. They already tried to start things when they saw him...they said they didn't want no "punk rat ass of a kid" messing up their gym...but he'd always ignore them. No need to start a fight when the gym showers were the closets to his home. It also helped that they were really good showers...water pressure was so much that it pounded into his back and massaged it in that manner until all knots were gone.

The necklace glinted as moonlight caught it and for a moment Eric wondered if it was magic that was making the soft glow to emanate from it. Rolling over onto his stomach he breathed in the smell of his bed...the smell of sweat and grime filled his nostrils...the smell of home.

Home. Such a simple word with simple meaning but sometimes so hard to find. He considered Angel and Devon his family the same as he considered their house his home but like a pinching feeling in his mind, a twisting hand in his gut, a tickling sensation in his toes he knew that he wanted something more...that he was meant for something more. Not to be a hero like that girl had told him but not to be forever a street musician who scrapped by with his family only to get through another day to only wake up the next and realize he had to start all over again.

A bang outside made him sit up straight his eyes wide and ears straining for any other sound. Swinging his feet over the edge of the bed his bare toes were met by cold and dusty hard wood floors, holding in a gasp he stood. He was in the same clothes he had been in the day before, torn up jeans that were to big for his small frame followed by a huge T-shirt also way to large. Walking over to the window with slight apprehension he looked down onto the street below. The streets were deserted, silent, knowing, deadly they were as they always were. The bang whatever it was must have been from a car a few roads away. Even with that knowledge though Eric couldn't help but believe that something was not right...that hell was coming to greet him.

Not for the first time he felt fear course through his body and yet he had a feeling it was the first time that he ever feared the world he knew that the magic within him belonged to. It was an odd feeling fearing something that was inside of ones own self but fearing more of where it originated from. Eric knew he got this magic from someone and figured it was his parents but they to meant they had to get it from somebody else and that's what frightened him. That there could be so many branches to this unknown world that it seemed as if it could circle around his world a few hundred times before ripping it to shreds. It was fear that he would not be able to stop whatever was searching for him and once more he felt as if the thing searching was more then just this evil wizard but the world from which said wizard originated.

With heavy heart he walked back over to his bed but had no intention of going back to sleep. Instead he grabbed his pen and a piece of paper and tried to think up a song. Any type of song but nothing came because nothing felt right and he couldn't write something that didn't feel right. A restlessness settled over him the type that never seemed to go away until it was gone. With a huff he laid back on his back and stared up at the ceiling.

A minute passed, an hour died away, then two, then three, gone before he ever truly noticed that they had been there. Time was strange that way and Eric hated it for that very reason. Time knew all things or at least the foundation for all things. When people die it must go on, when babies are born time must go on, when people wish for time to stop it must go on, when people ask for time to hurry it must go at the same pace it always has. Time must go on and with it life did to at least when it came to aging it did but there were some Eric knew that were so immersed in such powerful emotions that life passed them by. Sure they interacted with everyone but they never found out what life was truly about and because of it at the end of their lives they looked up and wondered where the time had gone but more importantly they wondered where their life had gone.

Eric had seen people like this who were so obsessed with the past that they failed to realize that the present was leaving and the future would not wait for them to sort things out. Some great people had fallen to the trick, to obsession, time. Time knew no rules, knew no pain or misery, knew no joy or pleasure, it knew no difference in race or blood, it was merely there with a single job to carry on no matter what.

A sharp knock at his door told Eric that it was time to make an appearance but he couldn't seem to get up he was to focused in his thoughts. Worried about a little girl and the war she told him would come to him if he did not meet it half way. His parents were dead at least that's what he'd always thought but something within his gut that until then had remained silent spoke up and told that Cambri was telling the truth. Though the war that according to her was approaching quickly he couldn't help but be more worried about the girl herself.

She was young, so young, so innocent but her eyes like doors to her soul spoke to Eric. They told him a story so sad that tears welled up in his eyes at the thought of them. The doors opened to show a soul so marred by the things she heard and saw. Her eyes so scarred had never known what true childhood was like...it was a crime. A crime that needed to be dealt with and he knew her parents were the cause of her heartache. His parents were the ones guilty of tearing a girl from her childhood that she rightfully deserved to have. They would pay for it, they had to, no one should get away with marring a child's innocence before it was their time. He would make them pay by making them see... and time would do the rest.

"Eric, get up! Angel's worried about you and so am I. So please come out and eat breakfast...its your favorite blueberry pancakes." Devon's voice was pleading and it was that voice that finally pulled Eric from his trance. Getting up slowly he walked to the door wishing that he could have peace to think but what peace was their in thinking, there was none.

"I'm up." He saw that Devon checked him over as if having to confirm that for himself.

"Good...now come down and eat Angel worked really hard to make this for you today." He lowered his voice slightly so as not for anyone else in the house (angel) to hear. Eric nodded feeling shame rise up in his chest as he followed his brother down the stairs and to the kitchen.

The smell of pancakes wafted over to him halfway down and he couldn't help but inhale deeply as he quickened his pace, much to his brother's amusement.

"Hey, Mum...did you make my favorite?" Eric asked with a sly grin as he went over to Angel and planted a kiss on her cheek. She smiled up at him before swatting him on the shoulder.

"Ahh don't you go asking me if I made your favorite like you don't already know the answer. I know your brother already told you...and besides the last time I checked your sense of smell was perfect it was your eyesight that wasn't so great." Her words rung true causing both boys to laugh.

"She's right you know you might as well be blind." Came Devon's voice his tone sounding so reasonable, so sane.

"Ok...so I walked into a few doors once it has nothing to do with me having poor eye sight it just means that I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings." Eric said defensively while his family just laughed with eyebrows raised. Sitting down at their rickety kitchen table they began to eat in silence.

As the first bite of pancake slathered in specially bought maple syrup slid down his throat Eric closed his eyes in ecstasy. It had been to long since he ate this dish...to long and he savored every bit of it. Looking at Angel with gratitude in his eyes he couldn't help but think he was lucky. she would have to work extra for this...the money she had spent to make the food could have been spent elsewhere but she had chosen not to, and for that Eric was extremely grateful.

"Thank you Mom...your cooking is spectacular." No one could doubt the sincerity of his words and Eric saw that his brother smiled at him, silently thanking him.

"So tell me Eric...any lady friends?" Devon asked playfully...full well knowing the answer. Glaring at his brother he flipped him the finger.

'No there isn't as you very well know." Eric said angrily...his dating other girls had always been a sensitive subject. There wasn't many girls to choose from and the ones he was interested in weren't interested in street trash like him.

"Eric, Don't let me ever see you give that finger to your brother or I'll take that guitar away from you so fast you won't know what hit you. And Devon you are his older brother and you know that he gets embarrassed and angry when you ask him about his love life. So why do you continue to do it? Whatever the answer that is about to come out of your mouth think over it long and hard because if I deem it to be the wrong one I'll let your brother beat you up. Ok." Both Devon and Eric nodded meekly and had the brains enough to look ashamed and...scared. It had been along time since they had seen Angel so mad.

A storm was coming Eric could feel it in his bones, in the very air he breath, in the silence that descended every once and awhile on the trio. But there was nothing he could do about it and even if there was he knew that the storm would still come, would still unleash it fury. Because even though there are umbrellas to block out the rain...it still rains and even though there's a dam in a river that river still flows. No one boy or man could stop a storm even if they tried to stop it with their life so Eric knew that no boy, who wasn't sure he wanted to be apart of this storm, had a chance to stop said storm.

All that mattered was that he was with his family...his family that loved him and for a moment he put aside thoughts of wars and storms, of lost families and true identities, and of dreams and hopes. Because the those things could not touch him right then...not as he looked at the smiling Angel and laughing Devon. No whatever was coming could come it did not mean that he Eric would have to meet it when it did.

A/N I know its been forever and really I have no excuse except that I've been busy in my other two stories. Sadly this story will be a slower update then my other two...at least until I can get one of them finished. I'm sorry about it having to be slower update but by no means is this story going to be abandoned. I love it to much to let it be forgotten like so many others. So please just stick with me. Oh yeah and tell me how you liked this chapter please.


	7. Chapter 7:Your World Not Mine

Chapter Seven: Your World Not Mine

Eric sat in a small park in the heart of London...people passed him by and never made any indication that he was there. His guitar was on his lap his hand poised to begin strumming but he couldn't play. He couldn't make the words flow from his mouth or his hand slide across the strings...he couldn't because he didn't know how he felt. His hair was standing up on the back of his neck, fear was slowly coursing through his veins, and anger...an anger that he had never known before...and Eric somehow knew the anger wasn't his own.

Shaking his head in annoyance he cleared his mind as well as he could and tried to focus on the music. He would have left but him and his family were both in need of money and food. As he thought over every song he'd ever written or ever heard he remembered one. One that seemed to fit him like a glove...he hadn't meant it to be so autobiographical but it had come out that way. Smiling the anger that had been ravaging his body dissipating slightly at the thought of the song. It was by no means happy but none his songs had ever been overly cheerful. Starting to strum the strings he soon began singing.

_I walk a lonely road_

_The only one that I have ever known_

_Don't know where it goes_

_But it's home to me and I walk alone_

_I walk this empty street_

_On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams_

_Where the city sleeps and I'm the only one and I walk alone_

_I walk alone I walk alone I walk alone I walk a..._

_My shadow's the only one that walks beside me_

_My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating_

_Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me'_

_Til then I walk alone Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Aaah-ah,Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Ah-ah _

_I'm walking down the line That divides me somewhere in my mind_

_On the border line Of the edge and where I walk alone_

_Read between the lines What's fucked up and everything's alright _

_Check my vital signs To know I'm still alive and I walk alone_

_I walk aloneI walk aloneI walk aloneI walk a..._

_My shadow's the only one that walks beside me_

_My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating_

_Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me'_

_Til then I walk alone __Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Aaah-ahAh-ah, Ah-ah_

_I walk aloneI walk a...I walk this empty street_

_On the Boulevard of Broken DreamsWhere the city sleeps_

_And I'm the only one and I walk a..._

_My shadow's the only one that walks beside me_

_My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating _

_Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me_

_'Til then I walk alone..._

As the final note faded from the air Eric breathed in deeply...enjoying the fact that just for a moment the hair on the nape of his neck was no longer standing, and the fear had abated slightly...no longer did he feel as hunted...but he still was not the hunter.

The song rang true that he did walk alone and that in some deep part of him he wanted to be found by someone or something and that at times he wished for pain because ultimately pain will let you know that you were still alive...that you still existed. His existence was something he often questioned...though he had no reason to...he knew that he was alive people's harsh words made sure of that.

A tear escaped his eye as he thought of every harsh word that had ever been spoken and every glare that was thrown his way...but what made the tears begin to roll faster was the fact that more people then naught acted as if he wasn't there. Bumping into him and then continue walking on without looking back or saying 'sorry.' He was nothing to those people not even trash on the bottom of their shoe. Those people were the worst to deal with...absolutely the worst.

With a sigh he began thinking once more...going through every song once more...to see if there was one that connected with him at that moment. And then like most times he found one. With another sigh he began playing.

_" If you see me on the street, lookin'_

_like I ain't slept in a week. Hey just look_

_the other way and if I'm by myself with_

_a twisted face filling up on comfortable _

_space._

_Never mind me I'll be fine just talkin'_

_to myself. Never mind me sittin' all_

_alone inside my personal hell. I'm _

_doing just fine. Never mind me_

_Well if you just can't comprehend_

_why I'd be kissin' your best friend,_

_hey just walkin' baby. Cause when_

_you're sittin' on the edge of a twenty_

_story ledge, oh. Well don't try to save_

_me, no. I'm probably lookin' at the sky_

_just tryin' to find a reason why._

_Never mind me I'll be fine just talkin'_

_to myself. Never mind me sittin' all_

_alone inside my personal hell. I'm _

_doing just fine. Never mind me_

_Don't remind me I'm not crazy_

_Don't rewind me then replay me_

_I'm just fine._

_Never mind me I'll be fine just talkin'_

_to myself. Never mind me sittin' all_

_alone inside my personal hell. I'm _

_doing just fine. Never mind me._

As the last note disappeared Eric stared down at his guitar case...and saw a couple of dollars that added up to be about twelve dollars. He felt the nagging pull to continue singing, to play and never stop. But their seemed to be a blockage in his throat that wouldn't allow words to come out. It was as if his hands and fingers were paralyzed so he could not play...and no songs or their words came to his mind...all was blankl all ws on pause. Except for the need to play...to play what the feeling within him was saying. His hair on his neck began to once more stand on end.

Looking around fearfully he saw nothing out of place...no people seemed interested in him...just the regular scene for a park...dogs playing, kids laughing, couples walking...nothing out of the ordinary. And yet Eric had learned to listen to the instinct of fear and when fear told you to run...you ran. Standing up he quickly put away his guitar as the clicks of the locks shut he grabbed the handle. Turning around not looking up keeping his face down but watching everyone on both of his sides.

"Are you going somewhere?" The voice sounded grandfatherly...but what a voice sounded like was rarely what it truly was. Snapping his head up he found himself face to face with three men.

One of which Eric was surprised to see still alive...his beard and hair was as white as snow and they both went to his waist...his face was wrinkled and worn...like a veteran who had seen to many wars and though he was retired from war he relived the battles every night. The one to the left of the old man was in his mid thirties looking and though his face had small care lines he was still rather handsome looking. With deep blue eyes and shoulder length black hair...he had the posture of someone who liked fun but knew how to be serious if the situation called for it. The third and final man was the same man that had called him Harry. The same man that Cambri had called dad...which meant if he was here he believed Cambri and thought Eric was his son. With a sense of dread building in his stomach he squared his shoulders.

"As a matter of fact I was." Eric kept his eyes to himself so as not to challenge any of the men but he kept his head so he could track their movements. He didn't want to turn his back on them because that was a sign of trust and stupidity...it was dumb to trust someone and it was stupid to let them know that you did. Plus he didn't trust any of them and people you couldn't trust were people that you ended up either being killed by or you ended up killing them.

"Whoa, wait a minute. We don't mean you any harm. We just want to talk." The old one told him. Eric quirked and eyebrow and let a small smirk adorn his lips/

"Really, you just want to talk? Hmm that's cool but you see the thing is, is that I don't. So good day." Eric walked around the three men concentrating on bring his invisible shield around him. He tended not to use it because he didn't like violence and tended to stay away from all the kinds of it even if it was just a defensive precaution.

"Now, now there's no need to get defensive. We mean you no harm. I must say those were very meaningful songs and your voice is amazing." Eric sighed and stared at the old man who was obviously the leader of the group.

"Thanks. But I don't think you came all the way from where ever the hell you're from just to tell me that I have good songs and an amazing singing voice. So why don't we just cut the shit and tell me what you want...or else I'm leaving." His tone left no room for nonsense and unbeknownst to Eric power radiated off him in huge waves. He saw the three men look at each other anxiously as they felt the power.

"Well, Harry you see we need you to come with us...you destiny lies somewhere far away from the life of a street musician." The grandfatherly voice was gone and in its place was a mocking tone that was as cold as steel. Eric couldn't help but laugh heartily despite the annoyance within him.

"First off my name's Eric and I don't believe in destiny. And just for the record of memory I know not to follow strangers when they ask me to come with them. My mother taught me better then that." Eric held in a snort as he saw the men look at each other confusedly. "What, you thought that I didn't have a mother or a family? Well, sorry to disappoint you but I do. So As i said I have got to go, they'll be worrying about me." With that he turned his back on them with his shield still up he began walking away.

"Wait...Ha...Eric...please just listen to us. I know this must be frightening and shocking, I can't even begin to imagine what all this must be like for you. But we can explain...give you all the answers you want...I, no we promise." Eric never stopped walking though he did slow a bit though he was unsure why. All he knew was that the face of Cambri kept popping into his mind, with her sad eyes to full of wisdom and sorrow. But through the thoughts of her he recognized that the old one had no shame, he goes from being understanding, to demanding, to bribing. He was more desperate then he had thought and Eric couldn't help but grin at that thought.

"Sir, the last thing I am is frightened...because honestly I've dealt with worse then you. Also never promise something you cannot actually do...because you have no idea what kind of answers I want therefore do not assume you will have all of them. Another thing I'm a street kid...promises mean very little if anything at all." He kept his voice even and detached as if he were discussing the weather with a stranger he'd never see again.

"I'm sorry for assuming anything I shouldn't. But there are more important matters to discuss like your role in our, no your, world. We need our savior, we need the one able to conquer the dark lord before he conquers us." The old man was speaking again in what he probably thought was a soothing and yet persuasive voice, not knowing that the only feeling it caused Harry was annoyance.

"You're right you shouldn't assume, it makes you seem like a jackass...also whatever the hell _your_ world is i don't care, its your world not mine." With that he kept walking not even sparing a glance at them. Not remembering to put up his shield again and in doing so setting himself up for disaster.

A force like a fist being slammed into his back was the only thing he had enough time to recognize before darkness took him.

Without knowing it the old man also known as Albus Dumbledore had caused a bomb to start sticking. His simple stunner would forever change the wizarding world as anyone knew it. The simple curse was like a pebble being thrown into a lake, the impact wasn't so bad but the ripples it caused would last for a long while, telling, showing, all who looked the truth about what really happened. But Albus Dumbledore did not know what his stunner would cause or that it could very well bring about his own demise but no really does know because that is fate's rule. That people, wizard or muggle are not meant to know their fates or other's fates because in knowing them means they'll try to change them or to make them happen. Never knowing that the outcome has already changed the moment they come into the knowledge of what it is in the first place.

A/N Hello everyone. I know I said I wouldn't be updating this until I finished my other two but this wouldn't quit bothering me until I wrote this chapter. What do you think? Tell me i want to know.


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